LAKSHMI

Lakshmi the Goddess of Fortune, lived in the ocean and was discovered by Vishnu her husband in his avatar as a tortoise!

The story began when the Devas (minor gods) were in race against the Asuras (demons) to obtain amrit (the nectar of immortality). The Devas consulted Vishnu was on earth as Kurma, a tortoise. They decided they would churn the oceans for the amrit.

They created a churn by threading the serpent Vasuki around Mount Mandara. Kurma dived to the ocean floor and balanced Mount Mandara on his back. In the grip of Kurma’s cosmic clutch, the mountain could not sink into the ocean bed.

The gods churned and received the nectar of immortality and then fourteen treasures came to their hands. For Kurma the most precious was Lakshmi, the Goddess of beauty and good fortune who would be his wife.

Vishnu carried Lakshmi from the ocean married her first in heaven and then many times on earth. Each time Vishnu descended on earth in an avatar, he would marry an avatar of Lakshmi. A cosmic couple, they would wed on earth as in heaven.

When Vishnu appears as Parashurama, he marries Lakshmi as Dharini. When he is Rama, Lakshmi is born as Sita. As Krishna he marries her as Rukmini.

Lakshmi plays a central role in creation, for she is Vishnu’s shakti. Her birth in the oceans bestowed her with boundless fertility. On earth she is known as ‘Prakriti’, nature, the mother of all living beings. When Vishnu and she are together, they fly through the skies on Garuda, an eagle.

Without Vishnu, Lakshmi is never alone, two elephants shower her with the waters of the Ganga. Dressed in a red sari, she wears rich gold ornaments that express her ties with good fortune.

She sits on a lotus, signifying her spiritual power, an ascension from murky water flowering into purity. The lotus is understood as a symbol of the cosmic world.

Lakshmi is the most popular goddess in the Hindu Pantheon. Each month of the year finds a festival to celebrate Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

In the month of Kartik on Diwali, Lakshmi Pooja precedes the welcome of the New Year. At a time when the last year comes to a close and it is the eve of the New Year, people pray to Lakshmi, for success, wealth and prosperity.

United by their belief in the Goddess of good fortune, Shree Lakshmi, Hindus revere Lakshmi with boundless affection each year.